


Melancholy Hill

by rasengan



Category: Free!
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-11 22:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10476354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rasengan/pseuds/rasengan
Summary: University life proves to be quite lonely when Haru and Rin are an ocean away.





	

The first time Makoto goes out with the kids from his study group he only has one drink. It's to sate them and their constant calls for him to 'loosen up!' and 'stop being so goddamn wound up all the time.' He drinks because it's in his nature to appease others. Even if he doesn't feel like loosening up with a bunch of acquaintances he's not really sure he fits in with, he just can't say no to them. 

That's how he ends up there in the first place - one of the guys from his study group invites them all out after a particularly brutal study session and everyone says yes, so naturally Makoto can't bring himself to decline even if he _really_ should be finishing the last three pages of an essay he has due the next week.

And that's how it all starts, he supposes. By 'it' he means the Friday night bar hops, the getting dragged along to dorm parties where the smoke is so thick he can feel his lungs deteriorating without ever even bringing a joint to his lips, the college life he has seen on TV shows and isn't really sure he wants. No. He _knows_ he doesn't want it. But, what else is he supposed to do when he feels like his best friend has already forgotten him?

Makoto mopes a lot more than he used to and he's painfully aware of that fact. Haru only calls on the weekends and can hardly hold a conversation over text message. Rin's the same way. They are both too concentrated on their training to focus on much else and Makoto isn't the type of person to ask for attention even when he needs it. So, Makoto is left at his big, lonely Tokyo university to fend for himself. 

-

Aside from the fact that he's suddenly wracked with a feeling of isolation, Makoto thinks he doesn't have much to complain about. He has his own apartment that is just a ten minute train hop away from his school. His parents have saved up enough money for him to live off of more than just the cliche college diet of ramen noodles. He doesn't have to work at a part-time job to get through school. He is doing well in most of his classes - sans chemistry. 

That's where he meets his study group, a motley crew of struggling freshman each with their own set of problems. It's a rough group - there's a punk-looking kid that always reeks of weed, a few frat boys that never get much work done, and a girl with enough piercings on her face to make Makoto squirm. Makoto obviously doesn't fit in, but he thinks that he shouldn't judge them. Instead, he should be grateful for the opportunity to have a few study partners who understand his bewilderment with stoichiometric calculations and chemical formulas. 

They are strange, but they are the closest thing he has to friends now.

-

Well, that's what he thinks until he runs into Sousuke on the stumbled path back home after a Friday night out with his study crew. They hadn't been anything remotely close to friends during their high school years, exchanging a total of _maybe_ five words before their current encounter. But, the sight of Sousuke - a familiar face in a university full of strangers - brings on a sense of nostalgia. Sousuke reminds him of Rin and Haru. He is Makoto's last tie to his closest friends.

"Sousuke!" Makoto leans against the brunette as if they are life-long pals, too intoxicated to realize he has caught Sousuke off guard. 

"Tachibana... Are you drunk?" Sousuke asks with his thick brows knitted together in a look of concern. Because he thinks this is an issue for someone closer to Makoto, he adds, "Do you want me to call Haru for you?"

Makoto's expression drops almost immediately. He shakes his head, but doesn't pull himself away from Sousuke. He thinks he might not be able to stand alone without falling over. Sousuke is like a brick wall against him. He must be working hard to built muscle again after recovering from his shoulder issues, Makoto thinks. He almost forgets about Sousuke's question. "Haru's sleeping. Or training," he grumbles, his words slightly slurred.

"Mm, Rin's the same way now too," Sousuke mumbles, "I guess they've really got their hands full with the Olympics."

There is a brief moment of silence where only the muffled chatter from inside the bar can be heard. It is a shared moment of understanding. 

They both miss their best friends.

"Do you need help getting back to your place?" Sousuke asks. Makoto shakes his head again, but Sousuke doesn't believe him. He doesn't _really_ want to spent the rest of his night getting Makoto home safely after spending the last two hours in the gym, but he knows that Rin would kill him if he found out he had left Makoto drunk to fend for himself. He would probably end up asleep in some bushes if no one looked after him. "I don't think you could take three steps without falling over," he says with a sigh. "Let me take you home."

-

It's only after they board the train to Makoto's apartment that Sousuke realizes he hasn't thought things through particularly well. It is the last train of the night. How the hell is he supposed to get home? 

"You can stay at my place," Makoto offers. He is surprisingly observant for someone so shitfaced, but perhaps the bottle of water he has been nursing from Sousuke's gym bag is helping him sober up. 

"Thanks."

There isn't much conversation after that. Neither of them are talkers, especially so late at night. Makoto eventually drops his head on Sousuke's shoulder, presumably knocking out. Sousuke thinks about repositioning him to regain his personal space, but there's something about Makoto's warmth and the view he has of Makoto's long lashes and serene expression that has him showing sympathy. 

-

The walk - or, rather, stagger - up to Makoto's apartment is the hardest part of their journey so far. Makoto is practically on top of Sousuke, completely incapable of walking up stairs while intoxicated. They stumble into Makoto's home after a few moments of fumbling with keys and then they both need a moment to ground themselves. Makoto starts stripping down to his boxers as if he has forgotten that Sousuke's there and then tosses his clothes into a hamper.

"'ve got some pajama shirts that are too big for me, if you wanna change," Makoto says, assuring Sousuke that, no, he hadn't been forgotten about in Makoto's drunken haze. Makoto has just forgotten about modesty, which has left Sousuke with a nice view of the taut muscles down Makoto's back.

"A good host even while plastered," Sousuke comments with a chuckle. He steps out of his shoes and takes Makoto up on his offer to change clothes. The 'big' t-shirt he had been offered turns out to be just his size. He's standing in Makoto's bathroom, clad in only Makoto's shirt and boxers, and staring at his reflection wondering if _he _is the drunk one. How the hell had he ended up in this situation?__

__When Sousuke comes back out, he is prepared to spend the night on Makoto's modest-looking couch. He'll wake up with a back ache, but it's better than walking home or paying the toll on a taxi ride back to his place._ _

__Makoto is watching him with his usual warm smile from against his bedroom's door frame. There's a faint rosy tint to his cheeks that Sousuke can only assume is from the alcohol. "You can take my bed 'n I'll take the sofa. 'ts only fair."_ _

__"No way. It's your house."_ _

__"I wouldn't've made it here without you."_ _

__"I don't mind the sofa."_ _

__"You're the guest."_ _

__"You're more stubborn than I thought you'd be," Sousuke admits with a laugh. He had always seen Makoto as a pushover, a docile man with friends who spoke for him._ _

__"We could share the bed. It's a compromise." Makoto's offer sounds more like a nervous question. Sousuke nods his head._ _

__A comprise._ _

__-_ _

__Thankfully, Makoto's bed is fairly large. It fits the both of them and even leaves a small space between them, which both men seem intent on not crossing. "Goodnight," Sousuke whispers once the lights are out and only the moonlight shines through Makoto's window. The dimly lit silhouette of Makoto's shoulders tells Sousuke he is fast asleep._ _

__It doesn't take much longer for Sousuke to fall into a deep slumber of his own. When he wakes up, it's because Makoto is some lunatic who likes to sleep with his window shades half open, letting sunlight stream into the room. He groans and burrows his face into the mass he's holding onto. Belatedly, he realizes the warm mass he's spooning isn't a pillow or a bundle of blankets, but a person. Makoto._ _

__And as that realization hits, Makoto is stirring awake with a soft yawn. He turns over and his sleepy-eyed expression immediately turns to blistering red embarrassment as their close proximity dawns on him. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't realize how close I was."_ _

__"It's... It's not your fault," Sousuke replies sheepishly. "I must've moved during the night." One glance down at the bed shows that the both of them had gravitated towards the center of the bed through the night. Sousuke can't help feeling mortified, though, because he had been the one with his arm wrapped around Makoto's waist._ _

__-_ _

__Still, Makoto can't apologize enough no matter how many times Sousuke reassures him that all is fine. They get out of bed after a few minutes, but it isn't until Sousuke is dressed in his clothes from the night before that Makoto finally falls silent. Sousuke looks over at him with an arched brow._ _

__"Can I buy you coffee as a thanks for taking me home last night?"_ _

**Author's Note:**

> This is just kinda something I'd been writing little by little over a long time and finally decided to bite the bullet and finish. Sorry if it's kinda messy or OC or rushed or anything. Also shout out to me for either going overboard or not at all on writing drunk characters (Makoto definitely could've sounded more drunk but writer's block). In my mind, this was gonna include a lot more angst and substance abuse issues and bonding over sadness and romance (is there even any in this??), but it turns out I'm shit at writing long works lol I just don't have the attention span to write out all the ideas going on in my head for one story also it would prob end up being chaos so I gave it a nice ending and now I'm gonna move on and try to focus on writing short lil plot ideas.
> 
> That's just me trying to justify this mess lol but i just wanted to finish it
> 
> Thanks for reading!! Ur the best if you actually made it through this work!


End file.
